Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps — Fireboy DML | Album Review
A look into the audacious debut project from Fireboy DML
There is a very thin line between confidence and arrogance. For Fireboy DML, it is unavoidable and even necessary to occasionally lean into the arrogance. The music industry is an unforgivable place and at times being just confident in your own skills may not be enough. That is why the Nigerian singer had no problems with releasing an album off the back of just three singles, late 2019. If you think that made him arrogant and overconfident — well welcome to the club.
There is a very well-defined but also amorphous new wave of music sweeping the African continent. The new guard has very obviously arrived but it has also done so in many different shapes and forms. Artists across the continent are experimenting; mixing and fusing, chopping and changing. In no way new concepts to the ever-evolving art form but with more eyes and indeed ears focused on this new generation, people are taking notice. Fireboy DML is very much at the vanguard of this new, exciting glut of musicians coming through. After his “Jealous” single, released in early 2019, captured the minds and hearts of people across the country and beyond, the singer set about cementing himself within the Nigerian music landscape.
“People were expecting another Jealous, but I had to make a statement so I dropped something different and it was worth it.” In an interview soon after the release of his debut album Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps, Fireboy spoke about the importance of escaping the potentially dangerous cycle of attempting to make lightning strike twice in the same place. An endeavour that would have been enticing for someone who was experiencing large-scale national success soon after beginning his professional career. This album did a lot of things for him by the mere fact of its existence, showing that he was willing to break the mould in some ways and enter relatively uncharted waters while developing himself as an artist.
The music on the record however, was undoubtedly worth it. The album is an unsurprisingly ambitious project. Fireboy had mentioned prior to and multiple times after the album how important for him it is to find his own sound. Going through rapid self-rediscovery and evolution especially is probably best done as a solo expedition. However, it was unexpected to see a feature-free album from the artist. The upside for that is quite clear as you move through the project. Fireboy is able to twist and turn himself into many different forms, exploring different soundscapes — successfully in most cases — while never having to accommodate another contributor. He was attempting to pinpoint and refine his style and he was doing it right in front of all of us. The wide aesthetic variety may make it hard to pin a particular label to the music on Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps but I do feel like Fireboy does not want that to happen with his music. Not yet at least.
“Need You” the album’s opener is a mellow number. Sombre guitars — reminiscent of Ed Sheeran’s “Tenerife Sea” — are the backdrop as he professes his intense affection for a love interest. Even though Fireboy DML is very liberal with the thematic choices on the project love does pop up more often than most others. It is with this topic that he shows his lyrical dexterity, handling it in so many different ways so it never grows stale over the length of the album. “Vibration” is an instant change of pace, with an upbeat piano and excitable trumpets allowing the singer to croon about the more intimate parts of the relationship referenced in the first track. Already the variety has begun to show, as much as it is not a groundbreaking achievement, it is a hurdle at which many other artists fall and in his debut project, Fireboy does well to avoid it.
On “Scatter” he is gleefully enthusiastic. The club-ready track will get you foot-tapping or head-bopping if you are not already doing so. “As they start am / People yapa / They start to dancia / But as I enter / Omo the party scatter” Fireboy is basically singing about his abilities to completely take over a party, a sentiment you would find hard to disagree with once you see his absolutely delirious fans whenever he performs at shows. Even though his Jimmy Fallon appearance earlier this year did not feature any of these fans his performance was quite impressive, especially for someone who missed out on a huge chunk of essential tour experience last year.
As the album progresses he shapeshifts slightly, wildly before eventually calming down in time for “Wait and See” the album’s final song. It has been quite the journey, a collection of glorious highs but on this final song, Fireboy is more measured, reflective even. “One man one city one night / One street one journey one dream” he sings of himself. The talent is obviously there and Fireboy is on an upward trajectory. It would be easy to get absorbed into all the noise that now surrounds him. Comparisons float around and artists are pitted against one another, his authenticity is questioned. However, his mind is clear, “Nobody can be like me, so many sacrifices”. And of his next move, you wonder, well you will have to “Wait and See”.
Listen to Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps and let me know your thoughts!
